Stay Ready, Stay Safe: A Natural Disaster Prep Guide for Business Owners

Many natural disasters strike without warning, instantly turning an ordinary day into a frightening whirlwind of uncertainty and anxiety. As a business owner, ensuring both you and your business are prepared and protected during unexpected events is key to minimizing disruptions and, most importantly, keeping you, your team, and clients safe.

Let’s discuss how to best protect your business in the face of a natural disaster and explore some ways you can even use your role to support those impacted.

Assess Your Risks

Every region has its unique challenges—hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and wildfires among others. Be sure to research the most likely disasters in your area and create a risk assessment plan for your business.

This might include checking your building’s structural integrity, understanding local evacuation routes, and, of course, knowing which natural disasters pose the greatest threat to your location. Understanding the risks your business may face during a natural disaster helps you prepare more effectively, potentially saving time, money, energy—and lives— as a result.

Create an Emergency Plan

A solid emergency plan is your best defense against the unknown. While your emergency plan can (and should!) be personalized to factor in things like your region, business size, industry-specific risks, and the unique needs of your team, be sure to include these key components:

Communication Tree: Establish a clear chain of communication for staff and clients using tools like group chats or email blasts to quickly disseminate updates. A well-structured communication tree ensures that all staff and clients receive accurate and timely updates during emergencies or unexpected events. It minimizes confusion, prevents misinformation, and allows quick decision-making while ensuring your team stays protected.¹

Evacuation Route: Know the safest exits and routes. Practice drills with your team. Doing so helps prepare your team to act swiftly and calmly during emergencies. This small, yet pivotal, step in preparation can save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce panic, ensuring the safety of everyone in (and around) your facility.

Client Policies: While it should hopefully never need to be used, have a clear cancellation or rescheduling policy should a natural disaster occur. Having a policy is important, but ensuring clients can easily find and understand it is just as crucial, too. Clear cancellation or rescheduling policies create transparency and reduce stress for both clients and your business during natural disasters, helping protect from last-minute confusion or loss of revenue.

Update Your Insurance and Finances

Doublecheck that your business insurance policy covers natural disasters common to your area! Natural disasters can cause unexpected damage, so ensuring your policy covers such things allows for quicker repairs with less disruption. Not to mention, having some emergency funds set aside means you can continue to support your staff, cover any immediate needs, and manage unforeseen costs without putting additional stress on your operations or leaving clients without services.

For more detailed information, refer to the California Office of Emergency Services website for a list of 20 questions to ask your insurance agent to make sure you’re as prepared as possible in the event of anatural disaster.

Prepare Your Space

It’s fundamental to ensure your physical space is just as disaster-ready as you and your team. This could include stocking emergency kits with first aid supplies, flashlights, extra batteries, bottled water, and non-perishable snacks to keep everyone safe and comfortable in an emergency. Or, you could even consider investing in a generator or portable power banks to keep essential devices up and running, since backup power is an often crucial necessity during certain natural disasters

And don’t forget to secure your equipment! Anchor heavy furniture, secure mirrors, and store valuable tools in protective cases to minimize damage and injury.

Check In With Your Community

Disasters can be more manageable to navigate when you’ve got a network of support. When you connect with neighboring businesses, you can share resources, spread critical information, and provide backup space to keep operations running smoothly. You could even consider collaborating with local emergency services to ensure you’re always prepared with the most current safety protocols and assistance, which can be vital in ascertaining the well-being of your employees and clients during a crisis.

Once you’ve ensured your team and clients are taken care of, the next step is to chart the best course forward.

Stay Connected to the Online World

Your digital tools serve as the backbone of your business in a crisis, keeping operations steady, while online platforms ensure you stay connected to the world around you. With features like online calendar management, automated client updates, and encrypted data protection, you safeguard your business and important information, and make sure you’re able to pivot quickly as circumstances evolve.

Speaking of data protection, cloud-based tools, keep vital information—such as client records, schedules, and inventory—secure and easily accessible, allowing you to make informed, safety-first decisions with confidence and peace of mind.¹ Thankfully, just about all digital services are cloud-based these days. On top of that, staying subscribed to local emergency alerts and following your emergency service’s social media profiles are effective ways to use your online tools to stay in the know.

When natural disasters strike, unpredictability is the only certainty. With preparation, however, you can do your best to stay safe by staying proactive, supporting your business, teammates, and community.

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Sources:

1. https://www.caloes.ca.gov/